Chapter 27: The Chinese Woman
Why not mithril?
Because mithril is expensive. A single piece requires 50 specialized crystals, which is enough to sublimate two and a half steel-grade weapons. It was too much of a waste.
He found a thoroughly dilapidated compound bow and chose first-tier sublimation, consuming 20 specialized crystals to upgrade it into a steel-grade "portable hand crossbow."
It was quite compact, measuring about 20 centimeters in length, and featured a groove for holding arrows. In terms of performance, aside from the lethal range being reduced to 40 meters and a rapid-fire capacity of only five shots, it was not much different from the mithril grade.
He then took out 50 broken arrows and silently recited: Ultimate Sublimation.
[Notification: Please select the sublimation tier.]
"First tier."
[Notification: Consumable components can be sublimated in batches. 1 specialized crystal can sublimate 10 "compound bow arrows." The current target is only 1. Are you sure you wish to squander 1 specialized crystal to sublimate a single arrow?]
Oh? Consumable weapons can be sublimated in batches? That is a convenient feature!
He had just been wondering how long it would take to sublimate over 2,000 arrows one by one. It seemed he had overthought it; the exclusive skill was more considerate than he had anticipated. The phrasing was precise and blunt, and the word "squander" was a stroke of genius.
"Cancel!"
He re-selected 50 broken compound bow arrows and operated again.
"Ultimate Sublimation."
[Please select...]
"First tier."
[Notification: Sublimating 50 "broken compound bow arrows" requires 5 specialized crystals.]
"Confirm."
[Notification: Please select the sublimation direction.]
[Portable Crossbow Bolts]
[Heavy Ballista Bolts...]
"Select Portable Crossbow Bolts."
*Whoosh!*
The fifty arrows were disassembled and reconstructed. In an instant, fifty small, exquisite hand-crossbow bolts were formed.
[Friend Private Chat] Anonymous: "Are you ready?"
Lu Ming curled his lip and chose an anonymous trade, placing the hand crossbow, the bolts, and the wide-bladed heavy sword into the trade slot.
The other party paused for a few seconds before placing a purple skill book into the slot—the very "Advanced Archery Mastery Plus" version Lu Ming had been yearning for.
Lock, trade, the operation was smooth and swift.
Once the trade interface vanished, the purple skill book was in Lu Ming’s hands.
*Hiss—!*
He took a deep breath, inhaling the woody scent emanating from the book. There was no mistake; it was the smell of money!
[Advanced Archery Mastery] (B-rank)
Category: Mastery Skill
Effect: After learning, master all advanced techniques for long-range weapons.
Trait: Lethal range of long-range weapons increased by an additional 20%.
...
Advanced techniques! And it even boosts the lethal range of long-range weapons! Learn it!
[Notification: Confirm learning B-rank skill "Advanced Archery Mastery"?]
"Confirm!"
The skill book dissipated, turning into a ball of purple light that merged into the space between Lu Ming’s eyebrows.
Elsewhere, on the roof of a high-rise in an unknown area, a woman in a suit pulled a heavy sword, which was longer than she was tall, from her inventory.
She slashed, swung, and turned it with just one hand, performing a seamless combo.
"Not bad, it will do."
"Hey! Did you find her?! That Chinese woman who stole two supply crates from the boss!"
Just then, a sharp shout came from below the building. The woman in the suit crouched down, pulled up her mask to hide her face, and quickly approached the edge of the roof to stare down.
Six white men in black suits with buzz cuts gathered together, speaking in rough American English: "No. Although we are all peak-level soldiers, her movement is extremely agile, and she is highly adept at using the environment to evade our pursuit. We have lost the target."
"Damn it! If this continues, the boss will definitely vent his anger on us!"
The leader’s face was dark as a pot, his eyes filled with trepidation. The others recalled the abilities their boss possessed and their faces turned pale with fear.
*Thud!*
Just as they fell silent, a black shadow descended from the sky.
The next instant, flesh and blood splattered along with severed limbs. The white men were bathed in gore. They turned their heads, trembling.
Their eyes reflected a figure with a proud stance, holding a heavy sword, a smile on her face.
"The Chinese woman!"
The leader shouted in shock, then stared at the gleaming, wide-bladed heavy sword, gritting his teeth to spit out one word:
"Run!"
When the opponent was unarmed, they could rely on their own short weapons and numerical advantage to hold the upper hand. Now that she had pulled such a formidable heavy weapon from who knows where, combined with her ability to handle multiple opponents, the roles of hunter and prey had suddenly reversed. At this point, they couldn't care about the boss's anger; staying alive was what mattered most!
The remaining four men, hearing their leader’s command, dared not stay and fled rapidly toward the rear.
The moment the five turned, the woman in the suit swung her heavy sword!
One white man who failed to escape the range was cut in half at the waist. The remaining four broke into a cold sweat, pushing their escape speed to the absolute limit!
The woman did not move. She turned her greatsword and plunged it into the ground, then reached back to draw her portable hand crossbow, firing in rapid succession with a *click-click* sound!
Four bolts flew out, precisely striking the heads of the four men.
Even as they continued to sprint, the four men only managed to charge another ten meters before collapsing to the ground one by one.
Their limbs twitched and their throats gurgled; even though the bolts had pierced their hindbrains, the tenacity of peak-level soldiers kept them holding onto their final breath.
The woman did not seem surprised. She pulled out her heavy sword and walked over, decapitating them one by one. She shook the blood off the blade, collected their spatial bags, and only then withdrew her sword to look into the distance.
"I must return to the Chinese region as soon as possible."
The transfers were planned according to their original locations on Earth. She had been in the United States, so the area she transferred to was filled with Americans. She was deeply worried about her family, and she couldn't get a word in on the national channel of the world chat. She did not want to reveal her appearance or name, so she wanted to go back and use the people of her own region to try and find the location of her family!
...
Back to Lu Ming. A sense of comfort washed over his entire body, and a wealth of shooting experience seemed to be printed into his body, fully absorbed by every cell.
He opened his eyes, picked up a compound bow, drew the string, and nocked an arrow. There was no sense of awkwardness; his posture and bearing were absolutely perfect!
He felt wonderful, and at the same time, the system notified him that all items listed on the trading floor had been sold out.
Lu Ming opened his commodity warehouse, where ten mastery books lay neatly.
Three were duplicates. In total, there were seven types: Primary Tailoring Mastery, Primary Gardening Mastery, Primary Cooking Mastery, Primary Driving Mastery, Primary Wood Collection Mastery, Primary Cloth Collection Mastery, and...
Seeing the last one, the corner of Lu Ming's eye twitched. After checking it several times to be sure, he was left speechless.
Primary Nanny/Childcare Mastery?
What the hell?!
Do I look like a stay-at-home dad?!
Though he felt speechless, Lu Ming learned all the masteries regardless. The principle that "more skills never weigh you down" held true throughout history. In the apocalypse, knowing more things was never a bad thing, even if it was childcare.
What if someone was willing to have kids with him?
Still, he would have to set his trade targets more precisely next time to avoid receiving duplicates. The other three books were useless to him, so he tossed them into a corner of his bag to sell later.
For now, the top priority was to take over the factory. After a moment of "squandering," he really didn't have many specialized crystals left.
He glanced at the count: 340.
When he left, he had 754. He hadn't done much, yet he had lost over 400.
The key was that he hadn't even gotten around to his own weapons, and his skills hadn't been upgraded. The pressure was immense.
He picked up a damaged compound bow, didn't think twice, and directly sublimated it into an Eagle-Eye Compound Bow!